La Brenne

The Brenne is called the land of a thousand ponds and actually holds around three thousand, almost none of them natural: monasteries began digging them from the Middle Ages to farm carp on land too poor for crops, and the practice continued, leaving a mosaic of shallow water, reedbed, heath and woodland across a regional park of about a hundred and eighty thousand hectares. The result is one of the most important wetlands in inland France, with whiskered terns, purple herons, bitterns and grebes breeding, and the European pond turtle, a rare native, present in numbers. Hides and observation towers are set at several ponds, and the Maison du Parc explains the fish-farming cycle.

What you actually see

• The pond mosaic - some three thousand shallow ponds dug for carp farming.
• The breeding birds - terns, herons, bitterns and grebes in the reedbeds.
• The pond turtle - a rare European native basking on logs.
• The hides - observation points and towers at the main ponds.

When to go

April to June for breeding birds and the best sound; September and October for passage migrants. Ponds are drained in rotation for the carp harvest in autumn, which concentrates waders.

Honest expectations

Most ponds are private fish farms and not accessible; birdwatching is from designated hides. A car and binoculars are essential. The landscape is flat and can look monotonous without patience.

Nearby

Le Blanc holds the park centre; Chateauroux lies northeast.